Virat Kohli’s 254* powers India to 601/5 as Umesh Yadav rattles the Proteas on Day-2

Hyderabad: Coming off a well-built knock of 63(105) overnight, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane took the Indian innings forward from 273/3 on the second day of the second Test against South Africa at Pune on Friday.

Virat and Rahane were in no difficulties as they kept the scoreboard ticking and made sure India didn’t lose the momentum. They never gave any chance to the South African bowlers as Rahane brought up his fifty and Virat brought up his 26th Test Hundred in his 50th test as Captain.

Rahane then got out on 59 to Keshav Maharaj as Ravindra Jadeja walked into the crease. The intention was clear from India. To score as many runs as possible. Virat Kohli was just six runs short of his seventh double hundred in Tests as the tea break began. Post tea, Virat took no time in bringing up his seventh Double hundred in tests.

A plethora of records was broken as Virat became the first Indian batsman to score seven double hundreds in Tests. He surpassed his idol Sachin Tendulkar who had six double tons to his name. When Virat was on 208, he sliced a catch to the Proteas skipper Faf Du Plessis off Muthuswamy. With fortune favouring Virat, it was declared as a no-ball and skipper had a smile on his face walking back to the striker’s end.

He further went on to score 254*(336) with 33 boundaries and two sixes. It was also his highest score in the format. Jadeja scored a quickfire 91 as he missed out on his hundred.

In a quick interview with BCCI TV, Virat revealed two of his favourite double hundreds he scored. He ranked his maiden double ton against the Windies at Antigua as first and the one against England at Mumbai as the second.

India then declared the innings on 601/5 as Umesh Yadav rattled the Proteas’ top-order with two quick wickets. Mohammed Shami then sent Bavuma back to the pavilion. South Africa ended the day’s play at 36/3 with De Bruyn batting on 20 and Nortje batting on 2.

With his marathon knock of 254*, Virat Kohli broke the following records.

• He surpassed Sir Don Bradman by scoring his eighth score of 150 or more as a captain. Sir Bradman had seven 150-plus runs or more like a captain.
• He became the fourth captain in Test cricket to score a century in their 50th test match as Captain. Stephen Fleming scored 274* vs Sri Lanka at Colombo in 2003; Steve Waugh scored 100* vs Bangladesh at Darwin in 2003; and Alastair Cook scored 105 vs Pakistan at Manchester in 2016.
• He surpassed Dilip Vengsarkar in the highest run-scorer list and became the seventh Indian batsman to score 7,000 test runs. He also became fourth joint fastest overall to score 7000 runs in Test Cricket with 138 innings.
• He also equalled Mahela Jayewardene with seven double hundreds in the list of most number of double tons in the test cricket. Sir Bradman leads the list with 12.